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In May , Assange was further charged — under the US Espionage Act of — on 17 counts for soliciting, gathering and publishing US military and diplomatic documents in , all provided by Manning. The leaks highlighted in the indictment include the US diplomatic cables, information on Guantanamo Bay prison detainees and Iraq and Afghanistan activity reports. If Assange is extradited to the US and charged under the Espionage Act, he could face up to years in jail.

On the less serious charge of computer intrusion, the WikiLeaks founder would receive a maximum of five years. Similarly, the US refused a request from the UK earlier this year to hand over Anna Sachoolas, the wife of a US intelligence officer accused of killing a British citizen due to dangerous driving. The US indictment against Assange does not include any charges of rape, of which he was accused of by two Swedish women in Assange has repeatedly denied the accusations.

A Swedish court issued an international warrant for his arrest in so he could be extradited back to the nordic country. After being released on bail in the UK, Assange was granted asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in June by then-President Rafael Correa, where he resided for nearly seven years.

UK judge says WikiLeaks founder should not be extradited to face espionage charges because he is at risk of suicide. VOA Newscasts Latest program. VOA Newscasts. Previous Next. Henry Ridgwell. Vamos said the defense will claim there is political motivation behind the extradition request. Military leak In and , Assange oversaw the publication by Wikileaks of tens of thousands of diplomatic cables and military reports relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Experts say the extradition case raises vital questions about freedom of the press. More Europe News. However, the British police warrant for his arrest for skipping bail still remained. There have been increasing tensions between Assange and the Ecuadorian government following a change in administration in Ecuador in Upon his departure from the Ecuadorian embassy, Scotland Yard confirmed that Assange had been arrested on behalf of the US after receiving a request for his extradition as well as for the bail offence.

Later, the US Department of Justice DoJ published details of the charge faced by Assange over the Manning episode — namely conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, for which, if convicted, he would face a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Assange appeared in court on Thursday and denied the charge of failing to surrender to the court but was found guilty by the district judge, who deferred his sentencing to a later date at crown court. He could face a sentence of up to 12 months in prison.

He will next appear at Westminster magistrates court on 2 May by prison video-link in relation to the extradition case, although this is likely to be a preliminary hearing. There will be a substantial extradition hearing, during which Assange and his lawyers will be able to present their argument against his transferral to the US.

Yes, and there are many levels of appeal he can pass through before a final decision is made. In fact, this is exactly what happened to the request from Sweden. Assange challenged the decision to extradite him to Sweden all the way up to the supreme court, the highest court of appeal for civil cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. To give an idea of timescale, Assange presented himself to the Metropolitan police on the Swedish extradition request on 7 December and the supreme court hearing was held on 1 and 2 February Normal practice is that anyone extradited can only be prosecuted in the country that sought them for the offences specified on the extradition indictment.

That restriction is known as the rule of specialty. There are two possible but difficult-to-use exemptions. The first is that if it could be argued new information had come to light since his extradition, extra charges could conceivably be brought. The second exemption covers what happens after someone has been extradited, convicted and then chooses to remain in the country.

Essentially the extraditing country has to allow the prisoner time to run away after they have served their sentence. Assange has the opportunity to assent to it. One of the charges faced by Assange in Sweden effectively expired in after it crossed the statute of limitations for that offence. But the allegation of rape was dropped in May for logistical reasons.

We cannot expect to receive assistance from Ecuador regarding this. Therefore the investigation is discontinued. Because he has already served the 50 weeks for skipping bail he could simply be free to go. But if he is deported to his native Australia, the U. It could also issue an international arrest warrant if he travels beyond Britain's borders. Assange's health will also be considered and Nils Melzer, the United Nations' special rapporteur on torture, said in an interview that when he visited Assange in Belmarsh Prison in May last year he was displaying symptoms akin to "psychological torture" likely caused by prolonged exposure to extreme stress, chronic anxiety and isolation.

In a series of preliminary hearings Assange has attended in person and by video link from prison he has sometimes appeared frail and confused when questioned by the judge. He has also lost weight.

However, appearing in court for the extradition hearing in late February he mostly looked relaxed and appeared able to follow along with the proceedings. Although he complained several times that he was struggling to hear the legal arguments being made by both sides because of being forced to sit behind a high glass barrier in the courtroom, a scenario he said that has also prevented him from giving "confidential instructions" to his lawyers.

Assange's legal team asked the judge, Vanessa Baraitser, to consider whether he can sit in the well of court, next to them, when evidence in the case is heard in May. Assange suddenly stands up and says, pointing through the glass, 'this is exactly the problem he tried to pass a note and Summers did not see it.

Judge: 'Mr. Assange: communicate through your lawyers, please'. WikiLeaks' Hrafnsson said Assange's health has been improving but his father, John Shipton, told reporters ahead of the hearing that his son's long confinement has damaged his health and he feared any U. Recently, more than 60 doctors wrote an open letter to Britain's secretary of state saying they fear Assange's health is so bad he could die inside Belmarsh Prison, while prominent figures from the worlds of art, politics and the media in Germany urged authorities to release Assange from detention because of his "critical health.

Melzer added that while governments often prosecute leakers and whistleblowers, government employees who actually implement official policy that involves the perpetration of crimes, such as systematic torture, generally enjoy complete impunity. Instead, he said, with Assange, "we're sanctioning" those that disclose this information.

At the hearing, the prosecution has argued that Assange should not be able to rely on the "political offenses" exemption in Britain's extradition treaty with the U. Assange have for publishing this information if it wasn't to cause a change in U. Melzer, who is an academic and a lawyer, also expressed concern over the allegations of rape and sexual assault made against Assange that date from Sweden's authorities ended their investigations without charging Assange in November due to what they characterized as weakened evidence.

Melzer said the police reports are riddled with contradictions and possibly even exculpatory evidence, such as text messages that indicate one of the claimants didn't want to accuse Assange of anything and that it was the police who "made up the charges. Melzer said he has written multiple letters to the Swedish authorities asking for clarifications over inconsistencies in internal police correspondence but the response from the Swedish government has been: "We have no further observations.

In one letter Melzer wrote to Sweden's minister of foreign affairs in May last year he says Assange has effectively been "publicly shamed" and "defamed. The Swedish allegations may appear tangential to Assange's case, but they are in fact a central plank in the circumstances that have directly led to his current plight: It's unlikely Assange would have fled to the embassy without Sweden's original claims. Geoffrey Robertson, a human rights lawyer who previously represented Assange — Robinson, from Assange's defense team, works in the firm he founded, Doughty Street Chambers — said that there was "no doubt" that the Trump administration was prepared to pursue Assange "to the ends of the Earth" because it is "determined to create precedents that will shackle investigative journalism" and prevent it from airing the U.

Still, Robertson added that "America is a beacon of free speech" and the First Amendment is a "phenomenal example to the world" at a time when all over the planet autocratic governments are trying to jail journalists or "shut them up. Robertson, who like Assange was born in Australia, has won landmark rulings on civil liberties from the highest courts in Britain, Europe and elsewhere.

He has been a United Nations war crimes judge and defended scores of people facing death sentences. And no one has disputed that what Julian Assange did was anything but tell the truth," he said. Facebook Twitter Email. Julian Assange: He infuriated Washington. Now he's facing life in prison. Show Caption.